David Zinman shines in his role as Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra
and there is some flawless technique from violinist Julia Fischer in BBC
Proms 5

This Prom, which marked the last appearance of David Zinman in his role as Chief Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra, showed their partnership has ripened over 19 years into something wonderful. Everything flowed naturally, nothing was exaggerated, and yet in their quiet understated way the performances offered plenty of illumination, as well as joy.

The programme was well chosen for a celebratory farewell, as there was barely a dark moment in any of the three pieces. The “merry pranks,” of Richard Strauss’s portrait of Till Eulenspiegel were fleet and highly coloured, but never coarse-grained, and the final return of Till’s tune after he’d finally met his sticky end was as delicately nostalgic as an old photograph.

In the following piece, Dvořák's violin concerto, the limelight was seized by a very different kind of musicianship, as imperiously virtuoso and blazingly energised as Zinman was relaxed. It came from violinist Julia Fischer, who has the kind of flawless technique and steely vibrato that seems impervious to human fallibility. It was awesomely impressive, and exhilarating in Dvořák’s high-stepping Finale, but it held us at a distance. Fischer seemed more the perfect incarnation of the virtuoso violinist, than a musician with a personal take on what she was playing.

After Strauss’s high jinks and the folky rumbustiousness of Dvořák, the leisurely paragraphs of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony could have brought on a fatal lowering of the musical temperature. Yet Zinman managed to make this leisureliness seem riveting, without trying to inject a tension into the music that clearly isn’t there.

This was especially noticeable in the slow movement. Zinman took a brisker tempo than is usual for Beethoven’s long country ramble, articulating the line so we always felt a sense of purpose throbbing underneath the music’s drowsy surface.

Related Articles

So far so good, but things really livened up when the Scherzo arrived, with its evocation of dancing peasants. Often conductors emphasise the heavy earthiness of those grinding cello notes; here it was the quick energy of the dance that grabbed us, not its weight. In the Finale, Zinman finally relaxed into the kind of gentle tempo we’re used to in this piece. Often this movement can feel like a retreading of the gentle mood of the beginning, but here it felt as if the symphony had won through to something new. It’s the kind of insight we often hope for from conductors, but all too rarely get.

Hear this Prom for 30 days on the Proms website www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 See it on BBC4 on 25 July at 7.30pm.